"And so, the kind heroine, in order to not hurt anyone anymore, she locked herself up in the facility, never to see anyone again..."

Mary put her book aside. She was drawing near the end, and the end didn't seem so bright for the kind heroine. She looked out the window in her room. It was dark out. Even without a clock, she could tell that it was sometime after 10 o'clock at night.

"...He still isn't home yet..."

"What are you reading, Mary?"

"E-Eck!"

Mary panicked when she heard a voice behind her all of a sudden. She spun around, only to see the third member of the Mekakushi Dan, Kano Shuuya, standing before her.

"You're always reading books, Mary. Why don't you go do something else? I mean, how about helping Seto with his job? Your flowers don't really help much after all... It's easy! You just have to hand out fliers to people at the supermarket and-"

When Mary heard the word 'people', her mind just sort of shut down. Being isolated from society for more than a hundred years had taken its toll on her, and she felt uncomfortable when talking to people. However, there was one person she would most willingly confide in.

"I'm home!"

"Ah...!"

Mary dashed past Kano, opened the door to her room, and dashed out, leaving the door ajar. Letting out a sigh, Kano spoke to himself.

"I wonder just how much she was listening to me..."

Seto took off his shoes before coming into the apartment, and placed them neatly on the shoe rack to the side.

"Welcome back...!"

Upon seeing Mary come out so hurriedly to greet him, he smiled and pet her on the head.

"I'm home, Mary."

In return, Mary smiled back at him. Mary enjoyed it when Seto pet her on the head. It reminded her of how warm and tender her mother's hand was when she was still alive. She recalled how gentle her mother's hand was when she took Mary on those rare walks in the forest. She still remembered the scent of the forest, with the wind blowing gently on her face, and the sunlight peeking in through the canopy, warming her body. She then also remembered the warmth from her mother's body from when the two boys were bullying her, and how that warmth seeped out from her body when she died.

"...-ry? Mary? What's wrong?"

"E-eh..!? I-It's nothing...! How was work today?"

"Oh, it was pretty tiring, but managed to make quite a bit today. The flowers that you made sold really well too."

"R-really...?"

"Yeah, really! You did a really good job, Mary! Thank you."

Mary's face brightened up when she heard Seto praising her.

"T-Then I'll go make more...!"

"Oh...! No need to force yourself, Mary. It's already late. You should get some sleep. Can't have your pretty face get ruined, now can I?"

Mary blushed, and the two parts of hair that were always separated from the rest of her hair started moving, signaling that her emotional state of mind was starting to get restless and excited.

"I-I-I'll go wash up then go to bed then!"

Kano had moved to his room while Seto and Mary were talking, and had been observing their conversation. He thought back to the last few lines that he had spoken to Mary before she ran out to greet Seto.

' It's easy! You just have to hand out fliers to people at the supermarket and you can spend more time with that guy too! What was that phrase again? Killing two birds with one stone? Yeah, that's right, killing two birds with one stone! You can finally make a better contribution to our finances and you get to be with him while he's at work too! What do you think, Mary? ...Ma-'

And then he got interrupted by Seto, who just got back from whatever part-time job he was working at this time.

"The only person Mary ever actually listens to is Seto, huh? I wonder how long that'll last..."

Back in Mary's room, Mary had closed the lights, and was now lying under the blanket, trying to sleep. However, for some odd reason, she felt like something was missing. Just at that moment, there was a knock on the door. Seto opened the door slightly, and peeked in.

"Can't sleep, Mary?"

"Yeah..."

"I see. Is it okay if I come in?"

"Eh? Y-Yeah... Come in."

Seto went in, closed the door behind him, and sat down on a chair near Mary's bed. Mary held the blanket tighter, as she was starting to feel nervous.

"Want me to read a bedtime story to you?"

"What?"

"When I was a kid, there was always someone who would read stories for me at night when I couldn't sleep. However, I can never remember the endings for those stories because I fell asleep before the story ended. So, is there any book you want me to read for you?"

"U-Um..."

Mary looked around her room, unsure of what book she should get Seto to read for her as it was a sudden sort of thing, but her gaze soon fell to the book she was almost finishing. Seto looked at where Mary was looking, and picked up the book.

"This one?"

Mary nodded in response.

"Where did you stop? Or would you prefer I read from the beginning?"

Although Mary wanted to hear the whole story as read by Seto, she felt that she ought to be more considerate towards him as he had already spent a whole day at work, and must be tired.

"Um... Where I stopped is okay."

"I see. Where did you stop then?"

"It's... When the heroine locked herself in the facility... It should be somewhere around page 133."

Seto flipped to that page, and sure enough, it was where Mary had stopped earlier.

"Wow. Your memory is great, Mary. Did you read this book before?"

"What? Oh, erm, nope. I just remember the page number because I looked at it before Kano-san talked to me."

"I see... Well, let's start~"

Seto continued off from where Mary had stopped, and Mary watched him as he read on. His voice had changed considerably from when she first met him. His young, chirpy voice had become a deeper, and more mature one. However, it still calmed her whenever she heard his voice. It was a relaxing sound, and her eyelids started to feel heavy.

"Upon meeting the boy, the heroine realised that she could now control her powers. Now, she could make friends, and live with everyone else without having to be scared of harming then. Together with the kind boy, the heroine lived happily ever after. The end."

Seto closed the book, and looked at Mary, who had already fallen asleep.

"I hope she was able to hear the ending..."

Seto got up, and placed the book back on Mary's table. He tucked her into bed properly, and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Good night, Mary."

Seto quietly left the room, and closed the door behind him.

"You sure are nice to her."

Seto wasn't surprised. He grew up with him, and hardly ever got surprised when Kano popped out of nowhere anymore.

"I heard you talked to her just now. What did you say to her?"

"Hey, hey now~ Why so serious? I just told her that she should join you at work since she can be with you and earn more money. There's nothing wrong with that now is there?"

"I guess not..."

"See? Yeesh, why do you keep thinking that I'm some sort of psychopath that's trying to make cute little Mary hurt herself?"

"Well, you do seem like an escapee from the mental hospital at times."

"Hey."

Seto gave a soft chuckle. Even Kano laughed slightly.

"...But you know Seto, if you keep staying so close to her, you'll only end up hurting her more. You get what I mean don't you? With your eye power, you should know what had happened to Mary's mother."

"Yeah... I know."

"And not to mention... You're human. She's part Medusa. She's already been living for more than a hundred years, and I'm sure she'll live for more. Just how much time do you think you have?"

"Just... Just let me continue like this for now... Even if it's only for a while, even though it'll end, I want to be with that girl, and take away any pain that she has-"

"Mary's father died when she was still a baby."

"What are you trying to imply?"

"Do you really want Mary to go through the same things her mother did? All alone, bringing up a child?"

"I didn't mean it like-"

"You'll just hurt Mary even more if you do that. She's currently clinging onto you for support. If she doesn't manage to stand on her own soon, she'll fall again. Do you understand what I'm- Seto...?"

Tears had started to fall from Seto's face. He hurriedly tried to wipe them away with the sleeve of his shirt, but more just started to fall.

"Ah... How unsightly... To think I would still cry at this age..."

"... ..."

In the darkened apartment, Seto's tears were more obvious due to the lights from outside being reflected off of them.

"Come on... don't cry anymore, Seto..."

Seto simply cried even more. Kano regretted saying that, and decided to keep his mouth shut for now. He hated having to see his friends cry, and was trying to think of something better to say.

"C-Come on... Um...What if Mary hears you?"

Seto immediately perked up, calmed himself down, and wiped off any remaining tears he had left.

"Yeah... You're right. It'll be bad if she woke up again and got worried..."

"... Go wash up and go to sleep. Mary'll blame herself if she thinks that your puffy eyes are due to her making you stay up late."

"I guess you're right. You should go to sleep soon too, Kano."

"Yeah, I will. Soon."

Seto headed to the bathroom, while Kano stayed behind, staring in the direction Seto went in.

"... For the sake of the both of you, I hope that death doesn't come knocking too soon."

Happy one year anniversary for Imagination Forest.